


Over The Hills and Crashing

by NuttersandAcorn (orphan_account)



Series: Winter Challenge 2012 [7]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Pre-Canon, Sledding, winter challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2012-12-02
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:17:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/NuttersandAcorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inpatient Greg wants to ride on a questionable sled...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over The Hills and Crashing

**Author's Note:**

> For the Winter Challenge. Day 7: 'Sledding'

"Snow!"

Sure enough, the snow blanketed the ground for at least five inches. Little Gregory had his face pressed up to the glass of his window, his grin from ear to ear. Snow! It was the first snowfall of the year in their new winter cottage. He didn't quite fancy spending it with his know-it-all brother and froofy sister. At the moment, Mummy and Dad were out buying food. They had to leave early, of course, but it didn't really help that they left David in charge of all people.

Currently, he was banging on his and Julie's door. She had still been sleeping when Greg had left her. "Get up! Father doesn't want you to sleep in too late!"

"I don't care, Dave! Go away!" came Julie's shrill voice.

Greg stared at the doors before rushing to pull his winter clothes on. Snow! With his brother busy, he could run outside and play in it! Dave was rather strict with keeping six-year-old him inside when the parents were gone. It wasn't like he could  _do_  anything about Greg slipping away, and that was only if he succeeded in slipping outside-

"Gregory, what do you think you're doing?"

Greg froze. Wasn't he just- "Um... it's cold in here," he muttered, looking down at the floor. No, it was obvious that it was a lie. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace, and the room was actually a bit too warm.

"You know what Father said about going outside." Father,  _Father_ , why did he have to say _Father_?! Greg pouted, and started to whine.

"That doesn't work on me, mister. Go to your room, take those clothes off and I'll make you some hot chocolate, alright?" Without waiting for an answer, Dave turned around and went back into the kitchen. Usually, Greg would follow instructions and sit in his room. Currently, it was empty of Julie.

Not today. Today, he'd take things into his own hands. After stuffing his bed with pillows to make it look like he was sleeping, Greg slipped out of his bedroom window, taking his small, make-shift sled with him, and he ran out to the nearest hill. This was going to be fun! Freedom was his.

He hasn't had much time to explore since he got here, and the possibilities seemed endless. On their way up, Dave had mentioned something about a hill nearby... Greg set off to find it.

Aha! There it is. He got to the top of it seven or so minutes later, panting. But of course! He was a knight, like those of the castle they had visited earlier that week. Spotting a rock, he gave a roar of glee. "Oh, my sweet! I'll save you! Giddy-up, Biscuit!" Greg jumped on the sled and took off down the hill...

-

Dave was reading a copy of  _Les Misérables_  when Julie knocked on his door frantically. He had believed that Greg had decided to take a nap, and drank the hot chocolate for himself. Such a sweet boy... He fumed at the disruption. "What?!"

"Greg's gone!”

No, that couldn't be right. "I just checked on him! He's-"

A noise of frustration came from the other side of the door, and Julie burst into the room. She shared her room with Greg, and had noticed when she entered that her pillow as missing and the window was open. The sled was also missing. After a quick check, her fears were realized. No wonder. "No, he's  _gone_! He went outside! His strange 'sled', as he calls it, is gone too. He doesn't even know how to sled properly..."

Dave was up in an instant and grabbing for his coat. This was bad. What if Greg hurt himself? "We have to find him. Split up. Look for the nearest hill. He had that sled, right?"

The snow was whipping around more now, and calling out was useless, but what else could they do? Footprints had been covered. It was hard to see, and it was cold... The two trudged up the nearest hill as fast as they could, Julie's agility keeping her ahead of Dave by at least one foot. "Greg? Greg!"

Silence.

"Gregory!" Dave yelled, his voice louder. "Greg!"

A sound came from the bottom of the hill. It was like... a cry, or a whimper, or even a whine. It had been enough. Julie was gone, running the best she could down the hill without slipping (which she did, twice), and she came across broken wooden pieces and a curled-up bundle half-buried in snow. She waved at Dave, who turned and went back down the other side to get home and call their parents.

-

"I went really fast, but I my sled ran into the rock, and it broke!"

He told the same story whenever someone asked about his arm cast. He had been in the hospital overnight, but he had been almost completely fine the next day (except for a broken elbow, a headache, and five stitches under his chin).

He would still be proud of the fact that he broke a few bones and knocked himself out by sledding down the steepest hill he had ever seen forty-four years later, and it was all because of a  _rock._

At least he had liked his siblings more after the incident.


End file.
